A blog about good food and bad food and the joy of eating - especially weird food.

I am a writer and a Mommy. I am a devout Jew.
These are the most important books I have read:
The Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu, Stephen Mitchell translation. Spiritual Divorce by Debbie Ford. Living Inspired by Akiva Tatz. My kitchen would suggest I'm a closet carny, as would my love of Branson.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving

I learned about a prayer on Thanksgiving morning and I keep thinking about it and thinking about it.

This is the prayer of thanks when one of four thinks happens. You cross an ocean, cross the wilderness (dessert), recover from illness, or get out of prison.

You say thank you to G-d, creator of the world who bestows kindness on we who are in debt. It's a very humble prayer. We are saying, "we fully acknowledge we have just gone through something where many factors were way beyond our control ( i.e., sustenance in a desert, good weather on the ocean, other people's whims in prison and our body when we are ill) and we also realize you have given more than we could expect and more than our fair share - more than we deserve, so to speak. We are humbled and so grateful."

I was taught about this in conjunction with a saying that goes: Leah was the first person in the Bible to show gratitude to G-d. Huh. It says this because when Leah had her fourth boy she said the prayer of thanks - thank you for giving me more than my share. More than I deserve.

So I understand humility, I understand that G-d wants us to know and realize we are given not just enough but so much more than we deserve - but there is something I don't understand.

I don't know what is bugging me about this particular prayer and why I keep trying to understand the hidden or deeper meaning here.